General discussion

The French are naming streets for the killers of American cops.

My first reaction to this was disbelief but after looking into it further, I would say, the United States would be fully justified in suspending any dealings with France. Whether you believe Abu Jamal innocent or not; whether you approve of capital punishment or not, if you are an American you have to be outraged at the callous stupidity of the French in this matter.

If your government won't take any steps against the French, you as a private citizen should and the best manner to do this is to boycott anything that says "Made in France". This does not mean buying French wines to pour down the drain; don't buy anything French and cancel any plans you may have had to visit there. The French need to be taught lessons in common decency and denying them American tourist dollars is one of the most effective ways of doing so. There are many more countries in Europe much friendlier to the US than France. These French scum need to be taught a lesson.

As Philadelphians cope with another police slaying, news comes that a suburb of Paris has named a street for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Hundreds of supporters of Abu-Jamal attended a ceremony on April 29 to dedicate the Rue Mumia-Abu Jamal in the city of St.-Denis.

"In France, they see him as a towering figure," said Suzanne Ross, cochair of the Free Mumia Coalition of New York City, who was part of the ceremony.

Ross said the street is in the town's Human Rights district, which includes Nelson Mandela Stadium.

Richard Costello, past president of the Philadelphia lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, said the street dedication was "deplorable" but "consistent with the offensive position the French have taken in this matter. They've made him into some type of hero."

Abu-Jamal, 53, was sentenced to death in 1982 for the shooting of Faulkner, who was 25. A memorial plaque honoring Faulkner has been installed at 13th and Locust Streets, where he was shot.

Abu-Jamal, a former Philadelphia journalist, Black Panther member, and critic of police brutality, has maintained his innocence.

Last year, a federal appeals court agreed to consider Abu-Jamal's appeal of his conviction. The court said it would consider Abu-Jamal's allegation of racial bias in jury selection, as well as claims that the prosecutor gave an improper summation and that a judge in a previous appeal was biased.

The street naming in St.-Denis was part of a three-day event sponsored by the French city, Ross said.

She said there were speakers on such issues as the death penalty, human rights, the Abu-Jamal case, and the 1985 bombing of the MOVE headquarters in West Philadelphia.

Ross said Pam and Ramona Africa, MOVE leaders and supporters of Abu-Jamal, spoke about the "unfulfilled quest for justice in that case."

When notified of the French dedication, Maureen Faulkner, widow of the victim, called it "disgusting."

"This is so unnerving for me to get this news," Faulkner said from Los Angeles, where she lives. "It's insulting to the police officers of Philadelphia that they are naming a street after a murderer."

The campaign to free Abu-Jamal has generated international attention, particularly among anti-death-penalty activists in France. At the dedication ceremony, Julia Wright, a translator in Paris and daughter of the late African American author Richard Wright, called Abu-Jamal "our Mandela."

Maureen Faulkner, on the other hand, urged Americans to boycott Paris.

"The people of Philadelphia should think if they have any trips to Paris this summer, to cancel those trips," Faulkner said.

Of the French support of Abu-Jamal, she added: "These are the people who sheltered Ira Einhorn" - a fugitive who was finally returned to Philadelphia and convicted of killing his girlfriend, Holly Maddux.

**************************************************

Never mind being outraged as an American citizen, as human beings we should all be outraged. I do not know if Abu Jamal is innocent but I think it is wrong for another nation to take this sort of stance against the internal affairs of a supposed ally, especially in the midst of ongoing proceedings. What business is it of the French how the American judicial system operates???

The French need to be taught a lesson. Do not buy anything from France, not now , not ever again. Their wines and cheeses aren't all that great to begin with. Quality amongst the French is a myth.

Hear Hear

too true. Why is it only those on the outside looking in see this? Many Americans that I meet here or overseas see the same thing, then you go into the depths of the Yankee belt and the music from Deliverance starts to play. Well that happens in Seattle too, just 2 hours from here!

YOu know

Anyone I have ever met that has been to France absolutely loved it. They love the culture, th ehistory, the cafes', the museums and a lot more. France is an amazing place ad the French, for the most part are amazign people.

The problem is, Americans thinks all people represent the country and the country represents all people. While in theory Americans are right on this, in reality it coulnd't be further from the truth.

If I bash an American policy or action in anyway at all, American CITIZENS take offense, which is completely retarded to a non American.

If you bach an American, thne yiou are in turn bashing the nation, which is also completely retarded.

You need to understand once and for all, YOU (AMERICA, THE US of A and ALL of it's inhabitants))are the ONLY nation on Earth that places so much personal responsibility in your government. If you government does something good, YOU take credit for it?! If your government screws up, YOU defend it no matter what?

To let you in on a secret, you are the only nation that feels this way about your government, all over a handful of liars that rotates ever 4-8 years. It's ludacris, simply nosensical as it changes to extremes and you have no real personal connection with anyone whom you support, just som esilly traditional allegiance to them without question, like some college frat house.

For Americans to judge 'The French' ythe way they do is absolutely pathetic. MOST French LOVE Americans they think that the fact that you helped them achieve feedom is something they will owe you for their lives. The French people I've met were the most humble and obligated bunch I've ever seem. Sure 'The French' will appear to be arrogant, and they are to other cultures, whereas in their own culture that is just seen as pride.

But lets just condemn the French, for all their government has/nt done, let's blame the French for al that we hate or don't understand about France.

Like I said, sometimes you guys are all just so retarded, especially when it comes to understanding and accepting cultural differences. Yet because so many Mexicans hop yourborder, you actually FEEL like you are multicultural? Give your head a good shake tonight.

What a load of crap.

The association of citizenry with government in France wouldn't happen if the two didn't pretty much act in concert with one another: while the French government was supplying Iraq with APCs and jets, the French citizenry was rioting, throwing rocks at employees and patrons of a McDonald's in Paris.

Meanwhile, you talk about the way US citizens conflate government and constituent behavior, creating these grievously inaccurate generalizations about how all us Americans act. What poppycock. I'm anything but a staunch defender of the mistakes of the United States government, and I'm not the only one that feels that way by a long shot.

Feel free to either make generalizations or complain about generalizations, but doing both at the same time is the height of hypocrisy.

Well if ou'd stop punching your pc for a minute

You would see especially after reading as many TR posts as you have, that YOU are actually a minority here. MOST TR peers here have and will support anything America does, right ro wrong, it's Americva so it MUST be correct and 'they' (whomever it may be) are wrong.

Don't even PRETEND to deny that, I have been here for long enough to know better. I know MANY Americans and have seen ti so many times. In fact I know MANY Americans who would also agree with that observation completely, as they see ti in their own people too. But hey, YOU'R EAmerican , you MUST defend your stand and any outsider's comment MUSt be incorrect, see previous post.

the French are so far detached from following their corrupt government it's not funny. YES they will protest it, they mostly abhor it. They don't aimlessly protect it from foreign verbal attacks, they don't defend thei rgovernments actions at all. It is the absolute opposite of what we see from teh USA.

I have been to France quite a few times, I lived 24 miles from there at one time, and can tell you first hand, people in France are NOT properly represented by the government's actions at all. The government does NOT portray how the peopl eactually feel, mosyt LOVE American's, they wouldnt want to be IN America but they appreciate all that Americans, Canadians, British etc. have done for France.

You see what you want to see.

I haven't seen the sort of overwhelming defensiveness in the majority of Americans at TR that you claim to have seen, and even if I had I wouldn't generalize from that to the entire friggin' citizenry of the United States for any purpose other than a hasty generalization.

Besides, my point wasn't that you shouldn't generalize: it was that simultaneously generalizing and complaining about generalizing is hypocritical.

In any case, I wasn't saying anything about French citizens defending their government, and neither was anyone else as far as I see. The comments made were about the French citizenry and the French government seeming to be of one mind about the United States -- and, as I pointed out, it's difficult to attribute a love for the US to French citizens who physically attack other French citizens just because they patronized a fast food joint that is American-owned.

I haven't even commented on whether or not I agree with French hatred of America, so I don't know why you're claiming that I'm mindlessly defending the US against criticism. Maybe you should work on your reading comprehension skills, and stop trying to find excuses to insult Americans.

yes yes yes, we have heard it all before

how it is for some reason fitting for a Brit living in Canada to critisize every aspect of the US at every chance he gets, but the people living in the US should never make a statement about any other nation because they are all so much more enlightened and multicultural.

Hey dumbass, look up "multi" and you would see that the US IS multicultural. Canada being MORE of a mix does not change this, no matter how much you wish it were so. We don't CARE if there is a bigger mix in Canada because we don't NEED to import people, we have who WANTS to be here. (which is a lot of people, far more than you have ever been willing to admit.)

You sir, at every turn do exactly what you bash everyone else for. Your recent trend of making your attacks more personal does not reflect well on you.

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